Coming Home A Ruftara Story
by T'Mu-Yor
Summary: This Fic is inspired by a picture/Comic Burning--ice posted for Zutara week. The little plot bunny bit me and I couldn't get it out of my head... for now it is only 1 chapter but if i get enough reviews I might add more.


AN: I hope you guys like this little plot bug, this story was inspired by Burning--ice's Picture Http://burning--ice(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Zutara-Week-2009-CROSSOVER-132786158 (replace the dot with . please) I hope she likes this. It doesn't follow the picture to a T because well it would be hard to write more than a paragraph without making to way to strange… so bear with me… it is NOT a Zutara fiction though it KILLS me to write it this way. We are also going to ignore the fact that our LOVELY Rufio died in the end of Hook… let's just say that he was badly hurt… really bad but he pulled through by some miracle ok . Dante Basco was 15/16 when Hook came out so I'm going by that age.

Coming Home a Ruftara Story

Katara sat near the edge of the water waiting on Zuko, it had only been a few short weeks since the end of the war and the Gaang were trapped in the fire nation to be diplomatic representation of each nation while the rest of the world tried to take in the fact that the fire nation wasn't the bad guys any more. Zuko had been crowned the Fire Nation Lord only two days after Aang defeated Ozai and it was extremely stressful for him.

Katara had quickly recognized the signs and had offered to give him some stress relief in the form of a good fire/water bending fight every night after his duties had been attended to. Because of this they had struck up a great friendship, some might see it as her flirting with him but she saw him as more a big brother, she would scruff up his long hair, tackle him and even tickle him almost every time they met up. He was fully dedicated to Mai and Mai had even started to lighten up a bit now that the war was over, the fact that Azula wasn't hovering over her shoulder also added to the relaxed atmosphere.

Katara and Aang on the other hand had slowly grown apart over the past few weeks. Now that Aang didn't have the stress of saving the world he had regressed into the twelve year old he was, and it drove the mature Katara absolutely crazy, she had also just celebrated her fifteenth birthday and in less than a year in her culture she was expected to get married. Aang wouldn't be old enough to marry for three years in her culture five in his own. She really liked the sweet young Avatar but everything was against them and even Aang was seeming to realize this. He seemed to have taken to Toph the past few days and Katara, though hurting a bit, was happy for the two they were the same age and so they would mature at the same rate.

Katara had been waiting for nearly an hour for Zuko to show up and it had given her a lot of time to sit and think. Tonight Zuko was late, they usually met up at sunset where both of their powers were equal. The sun was setting so Zuko's powers were low, and yet the moon hadn't raised yet so Katara's powers were weak. It was the perfect time of the evening as long as the fight didn't last too long. She wondered where the Fire Nation Lord could be when she heard a twig snap behind her and a whispered 'hey'. Getting a sly smirk on her face she didn't turn around but started talking to the FINALLY present Fire Lord.

"Well it's about time Zuko, I've been waiting for you for almost an hour"

The moment she saw a shadow shift out of the corner of her eye she jumped up and pounced on 'Zuko'

"Waterbending Tackle" she cried a huge grin on her face, she loved her time with the fire lord, he understood her and was quickly becoming her best friend. Her eyes closed in anticipation of the THUMP about to come. The boy was muscular and even though he was landing on the ground it would be like landing on a solid brick floor. When the impact came she was shocked to feel that in the strange pounce she had landed on the boy and their lips had met. She was shocked and didn't move for a moment feeling the warm breath and the soft lips of the body under her. Something wasn't right about him, he smelled wrong, felt wrong… shorter or something. Opening her eyes she was shocked to see a familiar face but it was lacking the scar and his long black hair was spiked up and dyed red at the tips.

"Wait Your not Zuko!" She yelled as she moved back from the Stranger. "Hey… are you a girl?" He said and she scrambled back… he didn't just look like Zuko but sounded like him as well.

"Of course I'm a girl you dolt what do I look like a Turtleduck?! Now answer my question who are you?" She jumped up and started to tap her foot growling softly under her breath at the strange boy that looked so much like her friend and fellow member of the gang.

The boy sat up examining the girl in front of him with a lost expression on his face. "I'm Rufio, leader of the Lost Boys, who are you?"

Katara was flabbergasted… was the Lost Boys another group like Jets? She hoped not… Zuko had enough on his plate without another rebellious group popping up. "I'm Katara waterbending master… you better not be here to cause trouble for Fire Lord Zuko because you'll have to go through me first"

Rufio scoffed and finally got up dusting himself off "I'm not here to cause trouble for anyone… err I'm just a bit lost… but once Tink finds me that problem should be solved"

Katara settled a bit but still kept a cautious eye on him… he could be lying after all "Who's Tink? Is that your wife or girlfriend?"

Rufio looked at her strange "Tink is a fairy… and I don't know what a Wife is… and she can't be my girl… friend because you're the first girl I've seen since Petter's daughter Maggie and we really weren't friends"

Katara sighed and shook her head… who was this guy… he seemed to have been isolated from the world… much like Aang… a child in a grownups body. He looked to be around her age… maybe even older… "How old are you and where have you been that you've never seen a girl before?"

Rufio looked her over and then sighed, he knew that Never land was not a well known place and this girl was too old to believe in the place so he decided that he would give her the short version. "I've been in a place called Never Land its really far away and only boys live there and I'm fifteen or I think I am…"

Katara had never heard of this Never land but even though she had explored a good portion of the world she hadn't explored it all. Perhaps it's a tiny island or even an orphanage. "… Well Rufio do you have anywhere to stay while waiting on this Tink? If your lost I can help you find your way back if I don't know where the place is someone in the Palace is bound to."

Rufio looked around but still couldn't find Tink and for some reason he couldn't fly any more… probably ran out of fairy dust… so he shrugged his shoulders "I don't have anywhere to stay, I was going to go home but like I said I got lost and I don't know where Tink is so I have no way back"

Katara's soft heart was slowly opening up to the lost boy that looked and sounded so much like Zuko. "Well come on, we can go to the Fire Palace and I'll talk to Zuko and Iroh about finding you a room until your Tink shows up" Katara stopped to pick up her light blue dress and slipped it on quickly before starting off in the direction of the Fire Palace.

Rufio nodded "Alright, urrr… thank you" Peter had a slight influence on the rough and tumble Lost Boy and he knew that girls liked to hear boys say please and thank you. It was strange though, this place felt so familiar everything about it screamed of familiarity and it shocked him. He had went to Peter Pan's world a few times and nothing had ever stood out to him. He had so few memories of the time before becoming a lost boy. All he ever remembered was a shadow of a man who he had called father always being disappointed in him and a sweet young woman who would tell him everything would be alright.

They walked in relative silence and it gave Rufio a chance to observe the 'girl' in front of him. He knew about girls, after Pan had come back he had spent some time observing girls. He had also seen how girls and boys interacted, he couldn't see why boys went so crazy over silly girls but as he observed the girl in front of him he quickly decided that Katara wasn't a silly girl. She didn't seem so bubble headed and stupid as the other girls he had seen. She seemed strong and determined. She had even threatened him, the great Rufio, if he wanted to cause harm to this Fire Lord Zuko.

Once they entered the fire palace Katara quickly started to ask around where Zuko and Iroh were. Some of the maids gave Rufio a strange look before pointing Katara to the Fire Lord's Council room where apparently the two were still at. She looked back to check on Rufio but he was following her so she returned her attention to trying to find her way down the long maze of halls that would lead her to the Fire Lords Council room. When she finally found it she knocked briskly at the door and waited for Zuko to call out for her to enter. It took him a while and she heard a hushed argument behind the door before he finally called for her to enter. She pulled at the heavy door then walked through with a soft growl "Zuko, where the hell were you? I waited for an hour and instead of finding you I find this scruffy boy and maul him by mistake"

Fire Lord Zuko looked up from the huge stack of paper work and frowned "I'm sorry Katara, I got caught up, I even missed dinner apparently some of the Fire Nation Soldiers are wanting to stay where they are and the other governments aren't happy I'm trying to figure things out."

Zuko looked at the stranger behind Katara and gasped… it was like looking in a strange mirror. He was about to ask who the boy was when Iroh gasped "Rufio? You can't be him!"

The large man got up and walked up to the boy reaching out and grasping him by the shoulders and looking him over. "By the Dragons it is, but you are too young… Rufio would have been nearly twenty-two by now, you look younger than Zuko only about fifteen or sixteen"

Rufio jumped back growling and reaching for his sword that wasn't there for some strange reason. "Who are you and how do you know my name!"

Iroh looked at him in question and then looked back at Zuko he stood there for a moment before sighing "It is a long story, one that I think Zuko should hear. Perhaps Miss Katara should retire for the evening"

Both Zuko and Rufio growled and shouted "NO" at the same time. It was strange to hear them because they sounded almost identical. The boys looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Iroh. Zuko spoke up first "Uncle, Katara brought him here, she's one of my most trusted council… she will go crazy wondering about the story unless you let her stay here. I trust that whatever you have to say will be kept between us"

Rufio frowned and looked away he really just didn't want to be alone, Katara was the only one who he 'knew' and if she left he would be uncomfortable with this Fire Lord and his Uncle.

Iroh sighed and then shrugged. "As you wish Zuko. Hum… where to start. Ahh I know… Zuko you know that your parents were married for many years before you were born. They got married very young because it was what the Fire Lord Demanded but you were not born for almost seven years afterwards. We'll what you don't know is that your father and Ursa had a son soon after they were wed. They named this boy Rufio. At this time Lee was still alive so he was just another son of the Fire Lords second born. Ozai was always pushing Rufio to be the best growling and throwing fits when he didn't do everything perfectly. One night the young Prince came up missing and he was never found. He was four at the time and Ursa spent a year in mourning until she became pregnant with you"

The room was utterly silent for a long moment before Zuko stood up his mouth opening and closing for a few moments before he looked over at Rufio "You mean… he's… he's… he's my brother? Older brother? But he looks more like he should be my younger brother"

Rufio was stunned… he had a brother? His parents were royalty? Where were they? He didn't much want to see his father but he still remembered his mother's sweet voice and comforting embrace. This big man was also his Uncle. But wouldn't that make him a Fire Prince? He was confused…

"Rufio? Are you alright" Katara had gotten up and placed her hand on his shoulder, she had leaned down so that she was eye level with the stunned youth. He looked up at her and finally relaxed a bit. He then looked at Zuko and Iroh who seemed to be waiting on him to speak.

"Well Um… I ran away… I don't remember much but I remember… err dad… always being disappointed in me so I ran away and Tink… Tinkerbell a Fairy, found me and took me to Never Land. From what I heard you don't age unless you want to in Never land so I didn't age past fifteen because you're an adult at sixteen and adults aren't supposed to be in Neverland unless you want to be a pirate… a bad guy"

The others were all very confused still and he got up pacing back and forth "Neverland is a magical place far far away… you errm… have to fly there with a fairy. It is hard to explain but trust me… it's hard to believe in it if you haven't been there."

Iroh looked around then sighed "Actually I have heard of the place, it is a legend. They say that Never Land or Nevlen is the place that the spirits pass through before coming to our world. The Dragons originated from there and came here because a war broke out between humans and the spirits sent the dragons from Nevlen to our world to stop the fighting."

The others looked at Iroh almost in disbelief but they knew that many of the stories were true, or at least mostly true so they couldn't argue. "This presents a problem Fire Lord Zuko… if it comes out that your elder brother has returned the kingdom might become divided on who should be the true Fire Lord"

Katara looked between them then sighed "The solution to that is Simple Uncle Iroh… Rufio doesn't look old enough to be believably the Rufio you told us about… we can just say that Rufio is Zuko's younger brother and Azula's older brother… they do have two years separating them plenty of time for Fire Lady Ursa to have another child… we can just say that he was sent away because Fire Lord Ozai didn't want Zuko to have any competition and by the time Zuko was banned from the Fire Nation they had thought that Rufio, who was named for his lost oldest brother, was dead"

She shrugged like it was something that anyone could easily come up with and Iroh smiled and nodded "Good good… Katara you will make a great diplomat eventually. It didn't take you very long to come up with that"

She blushed and looked away "Well I must admit I've been thinking about it since I saw Rufio… He looked so much like Zuko I had been trying to figure out why and some wild stories popped into my head… I guess it was easy to adapt one of them to fit the true situation."

The three males looked at him then Zuko nodded "It could work… Mother didn't leave the palace enough for anyone to figure out it wasn't true… and because he would be my younger brother no one could contest that he should be Fire Lord unless I don't have an heir before he does"

Iroh nodded and got up "Well then I should probably leave and start trying to get things set for all of this… so much work to do… I'll contact the White Lotus and get their help"

Soon the room was quiet as the occupants looked between each other. Zuko was utterly speechless that he had an older brother… well a Younger brother now… how strange to think there was a place you could stop aging at will. He knew next to nothing about this Rufio character and it made him a bit hesitant to trust the guy but at the same time it would be nice to have a sibling who wasn't out to kill him or dethrone him.

"I'm going to bed Zuko, are you going to show Rufio to a room or Should I just put him in the empty room two doors down from mine until it is announced that your long lost brother is back?"

Zuko snapped out of his reverie and nodded "yeah thanks Katara I still got lots to do here… I don't think I'll be done for a few days so we might need to put our training on hold for a while"

Katara got up and smiled at Rufio who had been quiet for most of the discussion. "Come on Rufio I'll show you to your room"

Rufio got up and followed Katara quietly. When she got to the wing that they would be staying in she turned about to tell the boy that the room in front of them was his but she saw the lost look on his face and sighed. She grabbed his arm and started to tug him down the hall. "That was your room but it seems to me that you've just had a lot of stuff dumped on you, you'll be coming to my room where we can talk a bit."

He followed a bit reluctantly as he was tugged into the room that was decorated in blue and sat when Katara directed him to sit. "I… I'm… I'm a Prince and those people are my family? Where is my mother? Where is my father? And you mentioned an Azula who is that?"

Katara sat down in front of him and sighed… Iroh or Zuko should really be telling him this but they were both so busy so she ended up spending most of the night telling the lost boy about everything… starting with the beginning of the war all the way up to just before they met. She did her best to not leave anything out and even explain about his family, what the Avatar was and what Elemental benders were. He was like a little kid who knew nothing.

After everything was said and done he looked at Katara "You mean I can control Fire? I mean… I kind of knew that… if I was angry the fires around camp would burn brighter… if I was happy they danced and if I was upset they would burn low… but I mean really control fire… create fire?"

She chewed her lip but nodded "possibly, not everyone in a family is a bender… my brother Sokka can't bend but I can… maybe in the morning we can track down someone who can help you… or maybe Aang can. I mean I'm a water bender I know the basics of how to control my element but Fire is different from Water, water is controlled differently then Fire… from what I know fire is controlled by emotions"

She sighed "come on Rufio, you should get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day" she reached out a hand to help him up and when he stood up they were rather close. Katara was shorter then Rufio by a few inches and his chin was at eye level, when she looked up something ran down her spin. A sweet feeling seemed to creep under her skin and without even knowing it her lips parted slightly and her eyes drifted partial closed.

Rufio looked down at the strong willed girl and something took over, he leaned down and met her lips in a short sweet kiss. Leaning back slightly he looked down at the flushed face of the girl in front of him and smirked. "I could get use to it here, as long as your around Katara"

The Leader of the Lost Boys finally understood what would draw Peter Pan away from Never Land, the feeling of belonging and being wanted was strong even after a few short hours of being around the Fire Lord, Iroh and especially Katara. Katara listened to him, she could read him better than any of the other lost boys could and she knew just what to do and say to make him feel better. For the first time in hours he wondered for a brief moment where Tink was but was happy that the Fairy was not around… he wasn't sure if he would be able to return with her even if she was.

From the window a small ball of light flashed. A tiny fairy hovered for a moment before smiling "We'll miss you Rufio but you are needed here now. Without even knowing it you've grown up and no longer belong in Never land. You've always been to responsible to stay there to long, always taking care of the lost boys and leading them… you'll be happy here." with that the small fairy flew away back to Never Land.

Katara watched the emotions flit across Rufio's face and blushed. "I… um… you really should go back to your Room Rufio… Come on, I'll take you there" She walked out of the door without looking back and walked down two doors to his new room. She turned around to tell him that this was his room but was again caught up in a kiss. This one longer and had a bit more strength and passion in it. She was left a bit breathless and very confused. "Thank you Katara, I… I really appreciate everything you are doing for me." Then he walked into the room and shut the door. Katara was left speechless and stunned.

AN I so wanted to make this longer but it was already MUCH longer than I originally thought it would be… Perhaps if I get enough reviews I might decide on making a second chapter or an epilogue… Please read and review… Again I owe this little plot bunny to http://burning--ice(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Zutara-Week-2009-CROSSOVER-132786158 (replace the dot with . please) so go bug Burning--ice too.

Thanks!


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